


By The Power Of Our Hearts

by ClemPrime13



Category: RWBY
Genre: Contains cheesy anime tropes, Everyone else is in their 20s, Mecha Au, Multi, love letter to mecha anime, ruby is 18
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:16:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27397081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClemPrime13/pseuds/ClemPrime13
Summary: Mecha AU. Follow the adventures of the RWBY and JNPR Lances as they fight to prevent the insidious plots of the Atlesian Revitalists and the White Fang from coming to pass. Loyalties will be tested, life-long friendships will be formed, and love will bloom, even somewhere as desolate as a battlefield.
Relationships: Jaune Arc/Pyrrha Nikos, Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee
Comments: 13
Kudos: 22





	By The Power Of Our Hearts

The planet Amity was just a little too cold for people to live comfortably, and didn't have much in the way of natural resources. So unlike the other planets in the system of Vale, it wasn't frequented much.

Captain Glynda Goodwitch gazed at the blue-white galactic marble from the briefing room. What was down there that had caused Command to pull her ship, the VSS Gladius, off of their patrol route? They were a vital piece of the patrol network that kept Beacon safe from FTL incursions, so there must be _something_ big here.

Glynda sighed, and primed the intercom. "JCRY (Jackfruit) Lance, to the briefing room, JCRY Lance, to the briefing room." Within minutes, she received four pings on her scroll, indicating that the members of JCRY Lance were on the way.

Cardin Winchester was the first to arrive. He was a hulking man, with close cropped auburn hair. Glynda remembered how the techs had to custom make a pilot suit for him, as the standard ones were too small for him.

He took a seat, only offering Glynda a nod in greeting. Cardin had... _problems_ with addressing his superiors correctly, but as long as he did his job, and addressed her respectfully, Glynda would look the other way, unless it got out of hand.

Next to arrive was Yang Xiao Long, her long, flowing blonde hair contrasting with the navy uniform that was the mark of a Mecha pilot. She took a seat above Cardin, most likely to smack him if he got out of hand.

"So, you gonna tell us why we're orbiting this snowball, Cap'n?" Yang asked.

"Yes." Glynda said, retaining her stone faced expression, "After the other members of your Lance get here."

Yang blinked. "I don't know what else I expected."

"Maybe a medal for the heroic act of stuffing all of your hair inside of your pilot suit?" Cardin asked, his sarcasm evident.

Before Yang could respond with a suitably scathing retort, the final two entered the room.

"Sorry, we took so long!" Ruby apologized, "Jaune... er, I mean Lieutenant Arc was helping me stress test my Heat Scythe in the simulators."

Glynda raised an eyebrow. Ruby and Jaune had gone through the academy at the same time, so it made sense that they had been placed in the same Lance. Despite Jaune's... lower than average combat scores, his leadership and tactical scores were through the roof, which was why he was quickly promoted to Lieutenant, and given command of JCRY Lance.

Ruby took a seat next to her sister, and Jaune took a seat next to Cardin. Glynda took a small remote out of her bag, and used it to dim the lights, and lock the door.

"Whoa, what the hell?" Cardin exclaimed.

"Pilots, this briefing is classified." Glynda begin, "If you breath a word of any of this to _anyone..._ well, I can't imagine that you'll be around much longer."

Yang whistled. "Ooh, our first _real_ mission."

"Good, I was getting tired of patrol detail." Cardin said, "Maybe now we can do something about Gamer Boy's abysmal kill count."

Glynda just stared at Cardin, and he silenced immediately. "Now, if you're finished, let's get on with this." She gestured to the holo-display of Amity behind her, "This, as you probably may know, is Amity. Normally, we wouldn't be here at all, but long range scans detected an unusual power source from the planet's surface."

Ruby frowned, "But no one lives here, there's not even much in the way of resources."

Glynda continued, deciding to ignore Ruby's statement, as she tended to think out loud. "Surveillance probes detected an Atlesian signature from the planet's surface. You are to make planetfall, and investigate. If there is an Atlesian presence in Vale, we need to know what they're doing."

Jaune narrowed his eyes. "We should take heater packs and cold weather survival kits, just in case. I'd rather not take any chances."

"We know." Cardin interjected.

For the sake of her blood pressure, Glynda decided to ignore Cardin's insult. "You deploy immediately."

* * *

As was usual, due to needing to stop at the infirmary for his Dramamine, to stop his motion sickness from acting up mid-mission, Jaune was the last to arrive to the hangar. Jaune took a breath and marched towards the knot of activity that was JCRY Lance's mechas.

The Valean Federation's military was unique in that it created mecha tailored to its pilots, instead of forcing them to cope with mechas that were cranked off of an assembly line. This resulted in some Lances being incredibly specialized towards specific types of missions.

The first to catch his eye was always Yang's Mecha, Ember Celica, its bright yellow chassis practically glowing. It cut a different silhouette than the others, due to the fact that Yang didn't have any Autocannons. She instead opted for shoulder mounted missile launchers, which went better with her pursuit based combat style.

Next in line was Crescent Rose, Ruby's Mecha. Due to the fact that Ruby was an absolute whiz with all things Mecha, she was actually her own crew chief. As a result, her mecha was the fastest of them all, because Ruby overclocked the reactor. Her crew liked to joke that the bright red color scheme was a warning to not work on it without her permission. As their long-range combat specialist, Crescent Rose had a Rail Gun installed.

Beside Ruby and Yang's Mecha, Cardin's Executioner looked rather lackluster, with its gunmetal grey paint job. Cardin was a very direct and to the point combatant, and his weapons reflected that. He preferred to soften up targets with his dual Autocannons, trusting in his thermite rounds to compromise their armor, then finish with a crushing blow from his Piledriver mace.

Jaune made a beeline towards his mecha, Crocea Mors, its white and gold chassis practically glittering. To him, anyways. Due to his high leadership and tactics scores, Crocea Mors had a advanced PCM, or Predictive Combat Module installed. This made it easier for Jaune to predict the tactics and maneuvers that enemies would make, while still being able to completely focus on the fight.

The downside to the specialized nature of their mecha, meant that each separate mecha needed its own engineering crew. As Jaune approached, he was waved down by his crew chief, Jeanne Arc. "Hey, bro. Big mission today, huh?"

"Yeah, our first mission that isn't just a patrol. Classified too." Jaune said pointedly.

Jeanne raised her hands in exasperation, "Fine! Don't tell your beloved twin what danger you're throwing yourself into today!"

Jaune simply remained silent, and started putting his pilot suit on. He worked his way into the skintight under armor, considered by some to be the most important part of the pilot suit. The under layer contained the millions of sensors that enabled the Trace Link to work.

The Trace Link enabled a mecha to emulate the linked pilot's movements, and was the reason that mecha were even considered for military use over other Fast Attack class craft. With the Trace Link, a master martial artist or marksman could bring their already considerable skill to bear on much larger targets, like warships and orbital stations.

After confirming that the sensors were operational, Jaune proceeded to let the techs attach the armor plates, a breastplate with his emblem, a rainbow colored gold, stamped on the right side, pauldrons, and greaves. Jaune put on the helmet, which fit snuggly on his head. He hit a button on the side to activate the suit's pressure seal. Mechas had life support, but the suits were designed to be pressurized, just in case pilots were stranded in a hostile environment.

"Pressure seal looks good, Jaune." Jeanne said, "You can disengage it now."

With a hiss, the breather mask folded back, and Jaune attached the heater pack that he had requested to the back of his waist. Next, he attached his sidearm and its holster to the right side of his belt.

"Well, you look ready." Jeanne quipped. "Do be careful, Jaune. I don't want to be the one who has to tell mom you got blown to bits."

Jaune rolled his eyes as he activated his Onmi-scroll, a wrist mounted computer. It had numerous functions, including doubling as a communicator when he was outside of his mecha. As soon as it was online...

"Took you long enough, Arc." Cardin said. "Was there a line at the infirmary, or something?"

"Yeah, actually." Jaune said. "Ruby, Yang, you guys ready?"

"Always, Vomit Boy." Yang said. Jaune groaned. _You lose your lunch one time, and suddenly you're branded for life._

"Ready, Jaune!" Ruby said.

Jaune moved to the elevator that would take him up to the cockpit. "Alright, JCRY Lance, mount up!"

More or less in unison, all four elevators rose, taking the members of JCRY Lance to their respective mecha's heads, which doubled as cockpit and escape pod. Jaune reached out and opened the hatch, stepping into the control platform. He reached for the panel in front of him, and punched in his command code.

"Begin power-up sequence." Jaune said.

Jaune reached out and hit the button that would start the reactor, and felt the hum that indicated that Crocea Mors's matter/antimatter powerplant had come online.

"Activate Inertial Dampening Field."

Without the IDF, mecha combat would never have seen the light of day. By creating a field around the mecha where inertia was more of a guideline than an actual rule, mecha became capable of maneuvers that would kill pilots otherwise.

"Oobleck Thruster Assembly... online."

The OTA, or Oobleck Thruster Assembly had been invented by Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck, and enabled maneuverability that put stunt pilots to shame. It worked by putting micro thrusters at various points across the mecha's body to augment the main drive.

"Activating Trace Link."

Jaune shivered as a charge went through his pilot suit. His HUD and Hull Imagers sprang to life, and the outside world sprang into existence on his view screen.

"Crocea Mors, ready for launch!" Jaune said.

"Executioner, ready to rock!" Cardin said.

"Crescent Rose, online!" Ruby said, her glee evident.

"Ember Celica, Good to go!" Yang exclaimed.

Captain Goodwitch's image blinked into existence on the upper left of their HUD. "Understood, clearing hangar deck."

An alarm sounded, and the engineering crews and other personnel evacuated, allowing the hangar to be depressurized. The maintenance scaffolding and catwalks retracted, and the hangar door opened.

"JCRY Lance, you are cleared for launch." Glynda said.

With practiced ease, Jaune turned and began to run towards the open hangar door. As soon as he cleared the hangar, he punched up his throttle, and rocketed away from the Gladius.

Jaune glanced at his radar, and saw that the others were in formation. Good, Cardin wasn't trying to be a drama queen today.

"Alright, JCRY Lance, prepare for atmos drop on my ma-" Jaune started to say.

"Hold, on that Atmos Drop, JCRY Lance." Jeanne's image appeared in Jaune's HUD. As Jaune's crew chief, she doubled as JCRY Lance's bridge controller. "We've got signs of an incoming FTL jump."

FTL, or faster than light travel was the fastest way to travel between the different systems in the Remnant Cluster, but it didn't come without drawbacks. Namely, if you didn't angle your jumps right, the tachyon wave was easily detectable.

"Copy that, Control." Jaune said, "We'll maintain a holding pattern."

Within seconds, a frigate to rival the Gladius materialized in front of them.

"Wasn't this supposed to be a milk run?" Yang asked.

Ignoring Yang's comment, Jaune turned Crocea Mors's sensors on the new arrival, and pinged its IFF.

It came back as the VSS Gladius.

"What the hell?" Cardin asked, "That can't be right."

"Control, are you seeing this?" Jaune said, "Visitor-1 is pinging as the Gladius."

Ruby was already on the case. Due to her status as the lance's sniper, Crescent Rose had an analysis module installed. This allowed her to find weak spots and analyze anomalous readings, like the IFF of the new arrival.

IFF, or Identify Friend/Foe spoofing was rare, but not unheard of. It was also very illegal. Whoever these people were, they were either up to no good, or desperate. Maybe both. A quick analysis of the duped IFF revealed _another_ IFF underneath it, and this one was...

"It's the White Fang!" Ruby exclaimed.

Jeanne's eyes went wide with alarm. "Send me the data, Ruby." After looking it over, Jeanne disappeared from sight, but they could still hear her. "Captain! Flight Officer Rose's analysis has revealed that Visitor-1 is White Fang!"

Cardin laughed, "Good. Time to teach these animals a lesson!"

"Can the racism, Cardin." Jaune ordered, "It'll get you killed one day."

"Whatever you say, gamer boy." Cardin snapped.

Jeanne reappeared in their HUDs. "JCRY Lance, you are cleared to engage, if enemy mechas launch, they are your priority."

"Let's go!" Jaune exclaimed, "Ruby, overwatch! Cardin, Yang, with me!"

Ruby rose immediately, coming to a point where she could observe the entire battlefield. Normally a mecha pilot would be annoyed at being removed from battle, but this worked with Ruby's main weapon.

She drew her rail gun, and sighted in on what seemed to be the bridge of the White Fang ship. If she was lucky, maybe she could end the battle before it had begun.

She fired, only to watch as it pinged off of the ship's barriers.

"Damn." She swore.

* * *

On the bridge of the Gladius, Glynda was already barking orders. "I need a threat assessment now!" She ordered.

Vermillion, the Gladius's Tactical Officer responded quickly. "Only real concern to us is the main gun on its dorsal hull, it'll put the hurt on us, and splatter any of JCRY Lance across space. Their point defense systems are nothing to worry about though." Jeanne was already on the comm with Jaune relaying the information.

"Firing solution?" Glynda asked.

Vermillion shook his head, "It's too much of a risk with JCRY Lance out there. You know what they teach us about firing solutions at the Academy."

Glynda knew exactly what he was taking about. It was a lesson that no one would ever forget.

Put simply, Sir Issac Newton was the deadliest son of a bitch in space.

* * *

Jaune, Yang, and Cardin were about to begin their attack run, when four objects broke away from the ship at high speed.

"Enemy mechas!" Jaune said, "Pick your targets!" He flipped around, headed for the closest one, and deployed his dual Heat Blades. As he closed in, he could tell these were old mecha, most likely Tankor class.

That made sense, considering the fact that this was the White Fang. Terrorist organizations _typically_ couldn't afford top of the line equipment. The mecha Jaune was chasing down turned, leveled its Autocannon, and fired. Jaune dodged, and responded in kind, firing his shoulder mounted Autocannon. Jaune's shot struck home, knocking the White Fang's Autocannon out of his hands.

"And that's why shoulder mounted is better." Jaune muttered. He closed to melee range, and swung his Heat Blades, carving through his target's chassis. While he didn't cut it in two, it did begin shimmering, the telltale sign of a core breach. He raced around to the rear of the mecha, and delivered a double footed kick, sending it careening towards the White Fang ship.

Before it could reach the ship, however, it silently exploded. "One down!" Jaune said triumphantly.

As soon as he was in range, Cardin opened fire with his Autocannons, their thermite rounds glowing an angry red as they streaked towards his chosen target. They struck home, and the White Fang Mecha tried to escape, only to find that the salvo he had just taken had disabled his main drive.

Cardin laughed, this was his favorite part. He closed with his victim, and delivered a crushing blow with his mace, its piledriver punching a hole through his victim's reactor, which promptly exploded.

"That's two!" Cardin said, "Wait, did Arc actually get a kill?"

"Can it, Cardin." Jaune said tersely. "Let's make an attack run on the main ship.

"When did you get so ambitious, Arc?" Cardin asked, "It's a good look for you."

They rocketed off towards the White Fang ship, darting between bursts from its point defense guns, ready to ruin its day.

Ruby, on the other hand, was embroiled in a sniper battle. Her opponent had a Autocannon modified to be more accurate across longer ranges. It was nothing compared to Ruby's railgun, but a hit in the wrong place could easily put her in a world of hurt, as Crescent Rose wasn't exactly the most well armored mecha out there.

She juked out of the way of another shot, and fired back. This shot found its mark, shearing through the enemy mecha's right leg, taking a good chunk of maneuverability with it. Ruby fired again, this time hitting center mass, and causing a core breach. The would-be sniper vanished in a silent explosion.

Yang cackled as she danced around her target, its Heat Claws lashing out at her, but always coming up just short. Yang delivered a right hook to the enemy mecha's gut, causing an energy discharge to ripple across it from Yang's Ion Knuckledusters. Too many more hits, then it would be dead in the water, so to speak.

It swung again, but thanks to the Ion impacts, it was sluggish, and Yang easily countered, this time with her Scatter Cannons. The twin buckshot blasts convinced the White Fang to go on the defensive.

Yang grinned, it was time to show off a little. She hit full reverse, and punched up her Target Acquisition module. Against a static opponent like this, a lock was quick in coming.

"Ember Celica, Fox 2!" Yang called out.

Two missiles launched from her shoulder launchers, and blew the final enemy mecha to smithereens.

Meanwhile, Jaune and Cardin were trying to destroy the White Fang cruiser's main gun before it got a proper firing solution on the Gladius, however, the constant flak from the White Fang's point defense guns were not making that an easy feat.

"Damn it!" Cardin grunted as he narrowly dodged another shot from the White Fang cruiser's main gun, causing him to take a burst of fire from the frigate.

"Cardin! That gun is too heavily armored! We have to fall back!" Jaune ordered, "Or these guns will rip us apart!"

Cardin acknowledged the order with a grunt, then wheeled around and started to retreat.

Jaune felt a shiver down his spine as Crocea Mors's PCM popped. Something...

_Damn, I really didn't want a migraine today._

"Activate PCM." Jaune said. For a brief moment, Jaune could see every possibility. Including the fact that the main gun was locked onto Cardin's mecha.

"Cardin, pull up, NOW!"

Normally Cardin wouldn't follow this kind of command from Jaune, but the panic in his voice caused him to obey instinctively. As it was, the projectile from the massive gun grazed him, tearing off most of the Ablative Armor on the Executioner's back.

As they rocketed back to the relative safety of the Gladius's weapon range, Cardin begrudgingly thanked Jaune. "Thanks for the save, Arc."

There was still something else from when Jaune had activated the PCM, a ripple, from the direction that the White Fang ship had come from. It could just be one of the false possibilities, but...

"Control, I think that someone else is going to drop out of FTL." Jaune said.

Jeanne frowned, "Jaune, there's no one on scopes, unless they're masking their tachyon wave somehow..."

Jaune was proven right, however, when a new ship materialized, its hull gleaming white, and proudly showing a gear overlaid with a scepter on its side, the insignia of the Atlesian Protectorate.

The Atlesian ship broadcasted "in the clear", as it was called. "This is Captain Maria Calavera of the Atlesian Protectorate frigate, Resolute. White Fang vessel, stand down, or you will be destroyed."

"Damn, they're playing for keeps!" Yang said.

"Can it, no personal comments now." Jaune said. "Remember our original objective? This just got a whole lot more complicated."

With its mecha complement rendered to scrap metal, the White Fang ship didn't have to waste valuable time recovering them, instead quickly turning and jumping to FTL.

"Jaune, switch your comm to the command channel." Jeanne said.

Jaune winced. Since he was the commander of an active Lance, he was expected to be part of whatever negotiations that took place. "Copy that, Control."

He blinked twice at the comm readout on his HUD, then selected the proper comm channel. Two windows opened, the left hand one showed Captain Goodwitch, who was as imperious as ever. The right hand one showing an aging woman with gray hair and cybernetic eyes.

"Well, now we can begin." Glynda said. "I am Captain Goodwitch, of the Valean Federation, and this is Lieutenant Arc, commander of JCRY Lance."

The woman on the right nodded, "I am Captain Maria Calavera of the Atlesian Protectorate. I was chasing that White Fang vessel that you scared off."

"My apologies." Glynda deadpanned, "One would expect a defensive action against a ship spoofing your own IFF, yes?"

Maria chuckled, "Yes, one would. Lieutenant Arc, you and your Lance should be proud of how fast you dismantled their mecha complement."

Jaune inclined his head, "Thank you, ma'am."

Maria continued, "However, your presence is no longer needed here, as our secondary mission was to retake the Atlesian research base on this planet."

Glynda's eyes narrowed. "Excuse me? What is an Atlesian research base doing in Valean territory? Are you _trying_ to cause a diplomatic incident?"

"Our science division has no record of this base, which is why we're investigating, Captain." Maria said, "Your cooperation is appreciated."

Jaune swallowed. He was on this channel for a reason, and it was time for him to prove it. "How about we make a compromise? We send down two of our pilots to investigate, and you send down two of yours. This way no one is shut out, and we all get some answers."

Maria gave him a tight lipped smile, "I suppose that you believe that you're entitled to any technology you find."

_Wow, I'm really pushing my luck today._ "Yes, ma'am." Jaune said, "This is our planet, such as it is, and you're the invader here. I can't speak for Captain Goodwitch, but I think it would be best for us to investigate together. That way, we all go home with what we want."

Maria stared at Jaune for a moment before nodding. "I'll have two of my pilots launch immediately." Her image disappeared, indicating that she had cut the comm-line.

Jaune winced, "Sorry, Captain. I kind of-"

Glynda cut him off, "Send Yang and Cardin back, I assume that you'll want Ruby down there for her technical expertise." Glynda gave Jaune one of her rare half smiles, "Mr. Arc, if you're not careful, we'll make a leader out of you yet."

Jaune switched back to the JCRY Lance's comm channel, "Alright, guys, we've got our marching orders."

"What's the word, boss?" Yang asked.

"Yang, Cardin, head back to the Gladius. Ruby and I will join two of the Atlesian pilots and investigate whatever's down there."

As he said this, two mechas shot out of the Atlesian ship's hangar. "Makes sense, I guess." Yang said, "Come on, Cardin."

Cardin grunted, and flew back towards the Gladius.

The comm circuit clicked, indicating that someone new had entered the channel. "This is Lieutenant Flynt Coal and Flight Officer Neon Katt of FNKI Lance. Who do we have the pleasure of flying with today?"

Jaune took a quick look at their mechas before responding. They were a gleaming white, and his readout told him that they carried a particle rifle and beam saber.

"Lieutenant Jaune Arc and Flight Officer Ruby Rose. You two ready for Atmos Drop?" Jaune asked.

While he was waiting for a response, Jaune used his Omni-scroll to send a text message to Ruby. _"What can you tell me about their mechas?"_

Her response came quickly, almost automatic. _"That they're soulless."_

"Copy that, Lieutenant Arc, coordinates are locked in, waiting on your mark." Flynt said.

Jaune let out a breath. Hopefully his Dramamine was still working, because if it wasn't... "Commence Atmos Drop."

All four of their mecha began the descent. As they hit atmosphere, Jaune activated Crocea Mors's heat shielding. This was a low level barrier that absorbed the heat generated from reentry. Without it, a bad reentry could seriously damage a mecha.

Crocea Mors landed with a thud, Jaune knew from experience that _thud_ actually left behind a small crater. "Damage report?" Jaune asked. It never hurt to be too careful, even a good landing could shake something loose.

"My railgun's alignment is off!" Ruby lamented, "I had it where I liked it, too!"

Flynt chuckled, "Is it really that big of a deal?"

Ruby produced the verbal equivalent of a keysmash.

Jaune coughed, "Uh, any sign of Grimm?"

Neon piped up, "Nope!"

Jaune sighed. "Crocea Mors, sentry mode, disengage Trace Link."

With that, Jaune was able to move freely without his Mecha trying to mimic him. He opened the cockpit, and attached the rappelling line from the bottom of the hatch to his belt.

Jaune sighed, then jumped, trusting the auto-descent mechanism to moderate his speed. Some pilots preferred to control their descent themselves, but Jaune's was set in such a way as to avoid upsetting his stomach.

He landed, and he could swore that he felt his teeth rattle. After detaching, Jaune turned to look at the others. Ruby was already scanning the surrounding area, meanwhile, Flynt and Neon were headed towards him.

"I assume she's your tech specialist." Flynt said as he gestured towards Ruby, his voice amplified by his EVA suit.

"Yep!" Ruby said.

Unlike Vale, which preferred armored suits underlaid with the Trace Link jumpsuit, Atlesian mecha pilots wore a fully enclosed EVA suit.

Jaune quickly scanned the area with his Omni-Scroll. "Alright, looks like the power source is coming from those caves." He gestured to a cave in a nearby mountainside.

As they entered the cave, Jaune pressed a button on the side of his helmet to activate his night vision. Amity was supposed to be uninhabited by human or animal, but at this point, Jaune didn't want to take any chances.

Ruby frowned at her Omni-Scroll. There was a new reading, one that shouldn't be here. "Hey, Flynt, what do you make of this?"

Flynt looked at his Omni-Scroll, then did a double take. "What the hell? There's Dust here!"

Jaune's eyes went wide. This was _huge._ Dust was the key to particle weapon technology, and until now, wasn't known to exist outside of Atlas. "Real glad I convinced your captain that we get all the technology down here." Jaune deadpanned.

Neon snickered, "Yeah, the Captain's going to have her knickers in a twist over that for weeks."

Jaune shook his head. "Come on, there's still that power reading to track down."

They continued walking in near-silence, the only sounds accompanying them the occasional beep from the tracking program on Jaune's Omni-scroll and the crunch of their footfalls.

"So, why'd you two become pilots?" Flynt asked as they went deeper into the cave, "You don't exactly look like the type, you know?"

Thankfully, Ruby momentarily saved Jaune from embarrassment by replying first. "Mom and Dad were both pilots, so me and my sister, well half-sister, it's complicated, followed in their footsteps."

Jaune groaned, "Occasionally the Valean Federation scouts pilots from those who are exceptionally skilled at mecha based video games. They scouted me after I streamed a flawless No-save Iron Man run of Mecha Tactics 3."

"In English?" Flynt asked.

"No saves, if units die they stay dead, and if you fail a mission, it's game over, no retries." Jaune explained, "People have completed Iron Man runs before, but they usually save manually every turn. I didn't, plus none of my units ever got hit. So I got scouted for my strategic and leadership abilities."

Neon whistled, "Damn, that's impressive. A flawless true Iron Man run? No wonder you got scouted."

Flynt opened his mouth, most likely to criticize the Valean Federation for the completely irresponsible practice of recruiting based on skill at video games, when the group came to a door. A big fancy metal door that most certainly did not belong in a cave.

"That's a door." Ruby said. "In a cave."

"Thanks, Captain Obvious." Flynt deadpanned.

Jaune turned to Flynt, "Do you have a problem, Lieutenant?"

Flynt shook his head, "Nah, this just isn't a normal assignment, and I tend to cope with that by being an ass."

Neon shrugged, "We're used to it."

Rather than listen to the peanut gallery, Ruby had already gotten to work. The door had a very impressive looking keypad, but Ruby was fairly confident that it wouldn't be anywhere near as impressive once she cracked open its guts, figuratively speaking.

In her experience, most security tech was easy to bypass if you could trick it into going into going into maintenance mode. Ruby started by pinging the door's system. ACCESS DENIED popped up in big red letters on the keypad's screen.

Ruby growled, but it was more adorable than threatening. If this thing was going to be difficult, then she would just hotwire the damn thing.

Jaune and Flynt turned to see Ruby all ready hard at work. "Uh, did she just growl? Adorably?" Flynt asked.

"Yep." Jaune said.

Neon stared at Jaune. "Are you guys for real?"

"We're professionals, I swear."

A moment later the door hissed open without a complaint. "Got it." Ruby said, "It's going to be stuck open, though."

The group drew their sidearms. "I'll take point." Flynt said, "Let's go."

The four of them swept through the door, right into what appeared to be a security checkpoint, an unmanned security checkpoint at that.

"Clear!" Flynt shouted, "Ruby, would you mind-"

"On it!." Ruby said as she vaulted over the barrier and promptly tripped upon landing. "Guys, the security guards that were manning this checkpoint are dead."

"They're right there, aren't they?" Jaune asked.

Flynt didn't think twice, "Neon." Noticing Jaune's questioning glance, he explained, "Neon's our medic, so she's got a medical Omni-scroll.

Neon jumped over to join Ruby, "I'll figure out cause of death, you get on the cameras so we can figure out who did this."

For a few brief moments, Ruby and Neon worked in silence, the only sounds the beeping of Omni-Scrolls. Flynt frowned as he looked at Jaune, "Is this your first mission or something?"

Jaune fidgeted, "Not exactly. We've been assigned to the Gladius since we've been out of the Academy. We've done some patrols, tangled with the White Fang a few times."

"So, this is your first mission that has the potential to be... messy." Flynt said.

Jaune nodded, "Yeah, I guess you could say that."

Neon spoke up, "I hate to interrupt the male bonding, but we've got a problem. These guards were killed by particle weapons."

Ruby's eyes went wide. "That doesn't makes sense! Only Atlas has particle tech, and this facility is Atlesian!"

"Ruby, do you have anything on the cameras?" Jaune asked.

Ruby quickly typed commands into her Omni-Scroll, "Almost, just searching though the footage for... oh, God."

Flynt gritted his teeth, "It's okay, take your time, but we need to know what happened."

"A week ago, the facility was assaulted by Atlesian commandos." Ruby said mechanically, "They killed everyone."

Flynt introduced a nearby wall to his fist, "No way. This is an Atlesian facility that-"

"That you have no record of, officially." Jaune interjected, "This is a black site, Flynt, whatever your normal rules are, they don't apply."

"That still doesn't explain-"

"Hold on," Neon said, "Ruby, can you rewind and enhance the image on those commandos?"

After a few tense seconds passed, Ruby spoke. "Done."

Neon glared at the screen. "This is screwy. These don't look like any Atlesian forces I've ever seen. Those red stripes on the armor shouldn't be there."

"Alright, enough of this." Jaune said, "It's been a week since the assault. Now, if the commandos found what they were looking for, why is that power reading still there?"

Flynt perked up slightly, "Because they were repelled somehow."

Jaune nodded, "Exactly, and I want to find out how."

Which meant charging into room after room, which Ruby was absolutely not up for at the moment, between finding the two security guards dead, and having to go through the security footage, she was not in a good place right now.

Her stomach's sudden desire to do flips was not helping in the slightest. _Just focus on the tech, Ruby_. _That always keeps you calm._ She turned to the computer terminal, and figuratively buried herself in it, because that made sense, unlike what this mission had become. An Atlesian facility in Valean territory made no sense, but Atlesians killing Atlesians? Why? What possible reason could there be for this?

Oh, her stomach was not being kind right now. Was this how Jaune felt when he didn't have his Dramamine?

Her frantic escape into the computer paid off, and she found a map of the facility. After a brief once-over, it was clear that there was a big room that wasn't on the map, since they had left the doors to the invisible room. _Sloppy. Guess they didn't expect anyone else to come knocking._

"Okay, I have good news, and I have bad news." Ruby said once she and Neon had exited the security booth, "The good news is that I found a map of the facility, and cross referenced it with the coordinates of the power reading, I know exactly where to go. I found a roster of everyone who worked here as welll."

"And the bad news?" Jaune asked.

"My stomach is a little unsettled. It's no big deal, I'm good to go." Ruby admitted.

Flynt sighed, "Don't act tough, Ruby. It's okay if you're not okay. This is your first mission like this, I'm actually surprised you two are taking it this well."

"I've got some nausea pills if you need them." Neon said.

Ruby shook her head, "I'll be fine."

Now that they were inside, security was rather light, the only security being cameras that no one was watching. The white walls were stained with blood in more than a few places, and there was an eerie silence as they moved through the facility.

"This doesn't make sense," Jaune said as they stopped to mark another body for proper burial, "If the commandos were repelled, where are the survivors?"

Neon shrugged, "I don't know, but things not making sense seems to be a theme for this mission."

They continued, moving as quickly and silently as they could, lest they fall victim to a trigger happy scientist hopped up on scavenged combat stims. It became apparent that there had been no survivors as they ran out of names on the roster that Ruby had uncovered. They soon came to the door on the map that led to the room that didn't exist. Ruby got to work on getting it open.

"So, no commando bodies yet." Flynt said, "Thoughts?"

Neon just shrugged. Tactics weren't her area of expertise, unless it had to do with what she generously called _Tactical Medicine._

Jaune stroked his non-exsistent beard, "For all we know, this is a trap for some horrifically convoluted reason, and they're all waiting behind that door to turn us into swiss cheese."

Flynt just raised an eyebrow and waited for Jaune to continue.

"Or, they're behind that door and all dead." Jaune concluded.

Neon cocked her head, "But how would that... Flynt, give me a hand." Neon quickly moved over to the nearest vent and began prying the cover off, with Flynt's help it came off. Neon promptly poked her head into the vent to see what there was to see.

Noticing Jaune's questioning gaze, Flynt explained, "She's a Faunus, that's why she doesn't need a light. That won't be a problem, will it?:

Jaune shrugged, "Nope, Ruby feels the same way," Jaune chuckled before continuing, "Man, am I glad that I didn't bring Cardin."

Flynt smirked, "He your token racist or something?"

Jaune couldn't help but grin. "Pretty much."

"Guys, there's gas canisters in the vents."

Everyone else turned to look at Neon, for a moment there was silence, which Jaune shattered. "Ruby, masks on! NOW!"

Both Ruby and Jaune's hands flew to their helmets, activating the control that caused their breather masks to deploy.

"Well, good thing we found that out, because I just got the door." Ruby said.

Their group assembled in front of the door as it began to open, and revealed a short hallway with another door at the end, and the bodies of the Atlesian commandos.

Neon and Ruby jumped into action, and knelt down by the nearest body, Neon looking for cause of death, and Ruby going through the commando's Omni-Scroll for any identifying information. After a few minutes, Neon gave her conclusion.

"Okay, here's what I can tell. These commandos were killed by a nerve agent." Neon explained, "And before you say anything about their armor, their armor wasn't vacuum sealed, not like our pilot suits. The thing is, I've never seen a nerve agent like this."

"What do you mean?" Flynt asked.

"I mean, they died after _seconds_ of exposure, even VX takes hours to kill, and that's the deadliest nerve agent we know of. This is something new."

The implications hit them like a freight train. This new gas could wipe out a city with a single missile loaded with the stuff.

"This identification data makes no sense." Ruby grumbled, "No information on what unit or ship that they were attached to, it just says that they're Atlesian _Revitalists_ , whatever that means."

Jaune turned to Flynt, "That mean anything to you?"

"Never heard it before, but I don't pay attention to politics." Flynt said, "If I have to sit through another debate between Jacques Schnee and General Ironwood, I'll volunteer for a raid on a White Fang stronghold."

Jaune chuckled weakly, "Come on, time to find out why this place is worth so much death."

"Another thing, the commandos knew about the gas." Ruby said, "Apparently, it's called G3. They were told that their gear would protect them, even though it wasn't vacuum rated."

Their group gingerly crossed the small hallway, taking care not on any dead bodies. When Ruby got to the door, she instructed it to open, its security lower than the door before it. It hissed open, revealing a circular room, with some sort of server in the middle, with wires trailing out of it in all directions.

"Ruby, go. Everyone else, fan out." Jaune said.

Ruby moved towards the server, and the others spread out to search the room. Flynt quickly found the last scientist that they needed to account for.

"Found the last scientist!" Flynt called out, "According to the roster, his name's Pietro Polendina! Cause of death is particle weapons!"

As Ruby approached the server, she became more confused. There was no console, no discernible way to interface with it, just a bright green circle on the ground surrounding the server. Ruby stepped inside, and the screen flickered to life, showing an image of a human girl with orange hair, complete with pink bow, and green eyes.

"Salutations! My name is Penny Polendina!" A voice coming from a speaker said, "Who are you?"

Ruby swallowed, this couldn't be... wasn't true AI a myth? "I'm Flight Officer Ruby Rose with the Valean Federation. We tracked an abnormal power reading to this location, and found this facility. Do you know what happened here?"

On the screen, Penny's expression became sullen. "Yes, unfortunately. My father and the other scientists here were forced to come to this facility to create me by a group of Atlesians who called themselves Revitalists. My father and the other staff had enough, and rebelled for reasons that I am not aware of."

The image of Penny began to cry, "My father... sealed the commandos in the hallway and used the Revitalist's own gas against them, even though it meant that he had no chance to get medical supplies in time to... to..."

"It's okay, Penny, it's okay." Ruby said, trying her best to emulate how Yang would talk to her when she got bad, "Your father must've loved you very much."

Penny nodded, "Yes, he did."

Ruby let out a breath. "Penny, I have to ask, are you an AI?"

"Yes, I am Ruby." Penny cocked her head, "Why do you ask?"

During the conversation, Jaune had come up behind Ruby. After hearing that, he activated his commlink with the Gladius.

"Control, package recovered, but things are a lot stickier than we originally knew. I recommend that both Captain Goodwitch and Captain Calavera of the Atlesian ship are present." Jaune said.

"Copy that, Jaune. Any recommendations for securing the facility in the meantime?" Jeanne said.

Jaune continued talking on the commlink, and Flynt and Neon came over to find out what was happening. After a while, Ruby spoke up, "Jaune, our lives are going to go back to normal after this, right?"

Jaune glanced at the server that they now knew housed an AI. "Y'know, Ruby, somehow I doubt that."

**Author's Note:**

> Here we go! This is an idea that's been bouncing around my head for several months now, and I'm glad to finally get the first chapter out. A big thanks to Avistar123, Eliad91, and Newlurker from the RWBY Nook discord for helping me turn this from an idea into an actual story. As for what weapons and abilities the various mechas will have, they're all inspired by the characters' canon weapons, skills, and abilities. If you have any questions, please comment! I'm really looking forward to this one, and I'm always ready to talk shop with readers and other authors.
> 
> And before anyone asks, yes, jackfruit is a color.


End file.
